12 for 2012 - 12 for 2012 is an ECS “read of the field,” built on our scrutiny of new reports and research, and our analysis of emerging drivers of change. The 12 policy areas do not represent an exhaustive list of the critical issues for the coming year, nor is this report intended to dictate your education policy priorities for 2012. Rather, 12 for 2012 is intended to stimulate thinking around how best to craft the “2.0” of powerful policy across the states. (ECS, 2012)...

Policy Barriers to School Improvement: What's Real and What's Imagined? - Principals have more power to innovate than they know. Researchers interviewed eight school leaders in three states about perceived barriers to their autonomy and then delved into the reality of those barriers. Only 31 percent of barriers cited were real - statutes, policies, or managerial directives that, if violated, brought the threat of consequences. They recommended educating principals on the authority they already have, and dismantling barriers that do exist. (Lawrence J. Miller and Jane S. Lee, Center on Reinventing Public Education, June 2014)...

State Governments Viewed Favorably as Federal Rating Hits New Low - Though the public view of federal government is at a low, citizens continue to hold state and local governments in higher esteem, according to a brief from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Just 28% rate the federal government favorably, down five points from a year ago and the lowest percentage ever in a Pew Research Center survey. By contrast, state governors get a positive rating: 55% view their governors favorably compared to 30% giving their governors an unfavorable rating. State economic ratings show modest improvement. (Pew Research Center, April 2013)...

75 Examples of How Bureaucracy Stands in the Way of America's Students & Teachers - Bureaucratic systems, policies and practices that have been built up over decades in inner-city school districts have often led to fewer resources that actually reach the classroom, prevented teachers from receiving the support they need to meet individual student needs, and disheartened many people in and around these systems, giving them little faith that conditions will improve. This paper identifies 75 examples of how bureaucracy hampers educational reform and progress. (Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, August 2012)
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Perspectives on the Key K-12 Education Legislation of 2012 for Indiana - This document is a summary of 14 key K-12 education bills that were enacted by the 2012 Indiana legislature. The acts of legislation included in this report were selected by the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University for their significance and potential long-term impact on the K-12 education delivery system in Indiana. This summary includes commentary and perspectives from statewide education and advocacy associations on the new laws. (CEEP, May 2012)...

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: An American Agenda for Education Reform - This paper responds to a question: What would the education policies and practices of the U.S. be if they were based on the policies and practices of the countries that now lead the world in student performance? It is adapted from the last two chapters of a book to be published in September 2011 by Harvard Education Press. Other chapters in that book describe the specific strategies pursued by Canada (focusing on Ontario), China (focusing on Shanghai), Finland, Japan, and Singapore, all of which are far ahead of the U.S. The research on these countries was performed by a team assembled by the National Center on Education and the Economy, at the request of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (National Center on Education and the Economy, May 2011)...

Federal and State Roles and Capacity for Improving Schools - The potential reauthorization of ESEA provides an opportunity to reevaluate the roles of the federal government and the states with respect to improving schools and boosting student achievement. This report considers alternatives.
(RAND Education, 2011)...

How the World's Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better - Based on over 200 interviews with system stakeholders and analysis of some 600 interventions carried out by these systems this report identifies the reform elements that are replicable for school systems elsewhere as they move from poor to fair to good to great to excellent performance. There is also an executive summary. (McKinsey & Company, November 2010)...

An American Agenda PDF - Here we are in the 1990s, witnesses and actors in one of the great dramas of this century... Wouldn't it be ironic if at this wonderful moment the United States could no longer participate as a world leader because we were not well-enough educated? (Commencement Address delivered at Worcester Polytechnic Institute by Frank Newman, former president, Education Commission of the States)...

A Nation at Risk - This legendary report was commissioned by the U.S. Secretary of Education in 1981 and suggests that the United States is running the risk of losing its premier status among nations as a result of the perceived shortcomings of its public education system. The report presents statistics that the authors believe suggest shortcomings in American education and provides recommendations touching upon a number of areas, including high school graduation requirements, standards and expectations of students, structure of the school calendar, teaching, and school and elected leaders. (National Commission on Excellence in Education, April 1983)...